Exploring the evolution of digital television in China: An interplay between economic and political interests Charles G.C. Feng a , T.Y. Lau b , David J. Atkin c, * , Carolyn A. Lin c a Communications and New Media Programme, National University of Singapore, Singapore b Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States c Department of Communication Science, University of Connecticut, 850 Bolton Road, Storrs, CT 06269, United States article info Article history: Received 3 April 2007 Received in revised form 10 May 2008 Accepted 19 May 2008 Keywords: Digital Telematics Television Broadcasting Political and Economic Progress abstract This paper argues that the primary obstacles facing the transition to digital TV involve: (1) administrative infighting, (2) heavy-handed policymaking processes, and (3) the pursuit of self-interest and centralized control by the state network. After profiling China’s television infrastructure, the paper concludes that the Communist Party’s current policy initiative for the development of its digital television industry is not feasible. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Global interest in High Definition Television (HDTV) has grown dramatically in recent years, with Asia, Europe and North America now implementing the technology to varying degrees (Bracken and Atkin, 2004; Dupagne, 2002; Dupagne and Seel, 2006). In the US – long a leader in TV set adoption – the FCC recently postponed a December, 2006 deadline for mandatory conversion to digital transmission for broadcasters (Grant, 2007). Although Western countries were the primary consumers of television sets in the 20th century – with the US accounting for half of screens, and the rest roughly split between Europe and Japan (e.g., Schaeffer and Atkin, 1991) – China is poised to become the largest potential HDTV receiver market. HDTV is part of a larger DTV umbrella that encompasses several DTV technologies that encompass a global set receiver market valued at several hundred million dollars. But given recent trends in technology convergence, leadership in digital TV impinges upon leadership in a range of interoperable telematic technologies (e.g., PC-TV’s). Perhaps owing to these economic ramifications, prospects for the emergence of a global digital standard were dashed when Europe, the US and Japan pursued their own unique (yet incompatible) TV standards during the 1990s. In order to gain a better understanding of industrial policy dynamics underpinning DTV’s development, it’s useful to ex- plore the impact of policymaking on the diffusion of emerging receiver technologies in different contexts. When tracing HDTV’s genesis through the American context, Dupagne (2002, p. 280) noted that HDTV was designed to offer the following major improvements: 0736-5853/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2008.05.002 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: d.atkin@csuohio.edu (D.J. Atkin). Telematics and Informatics 26 (2009) 333–342 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Telematics and Informatics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele